Simple Strategy Leads Top Team to Victory in Round One at Ruby Buckle

The first day of the Ruby Buckle Central Barrel Race in Guthrie, Okla., saw Slingin Firewater and Tyler Rivette win the first round of the derby.

Tyler Rivette and Slingin Firewater winning round one of the derby at the 2024 Ruby Buckle Central Race / Lexi Smith Media

The Ruby Buckle Central Barrel Race, held in Guthrie, Okla., April 22-28, 2024, completed the first day of competition. Day one held the first round of the derby. 311 competitors ran down the alley to run at their chance for the $1.1 million payout throughout the week. The horse and rider pair to win the first race of the week were Slingin Firewater and Tyler Rivette.

Slingin Firewater and Tyler Rivette won round one of the derby at the Ruby Buckle Central Race with a time of 16.794. They earned themselves a check worth $6,376.

Rivette is the trainer and rider, and Rosemary Harrison is the owner and breeder of Slingin Firewater. Slingin Firewater is a 2019 gelding by the legendary A Streak of Fling and out of Firewater Traffic who is by Firewater Ta Fame.

Rivette has had great experiences with A Streak of Fling offspring. He says, "They are easy to train, and their athletic ability is unbelievable."

Rivette has the training figured out with the A Streak of Fling horses. He also trained Flingin Roses, a 2016 stallion by A Streak of Fling and out of A Dancing Rose Lady. Flingin Roses has an LTE of $180,000, two AQHA World Champion titles and is a BFA Futurity World Champion.

Rivette speaks to the raw talent of these horses and that they have all been natural to bring along on the pattern from start to finish. He has two specific attributes he appreciates when running and training futurity and derby horses, "I like a horse to run (freely) on its own and still turn."

Rivette and Slingin Firewater were draw number127 in the derby, nearly halfway through, and still staked their claim at the top when all the dust settled at the Lazy E Arena in Guthrie, Okla.

When asked about his run today, Rivette claimed, "There's really not a special way you have to do things with him when preparing for a run; we keep it pretty simple."

Simple was the recipe to help them come out on top today; they'll give it another go come Wednesday in round two. That motto "simply" earned them the win in round one; stay tuned for how it pans out in round two.